Affordable XC bike

I want to buy my 17 yo a XC bike for the occasional NICA* race and riding mellower mtb trails.

They already have an alloy Stumpy Evo with a 170 mm Fox 38. Not light, not the most fun for mellow trails. They also have a Steel gravel bike with 48 m rear, 50mm front tires, and the option to add a dropper.

I need to stick with Specialized, Trek, Santacruz or Salsa, because I work at a shop that sells those.

For about the same price I see 3 options:
1: Trek Procaliber 9.5. Modern geo Carbon frame, reasonably lighT, low end parts, would upgrade some things (fork, maybe a wheel)
2: Specialized Chisel FS: modern geo, alloy, but still decent weight frame, super low end parts. Less money to upgrade.
3 Salsa Spearfish (fs) SLx: slightly more dated geo, but not bad. Heavy (alloy) frame. Good suspension. About the same price as the Procaliber, so more money to upgrade than Chisel.

On the one hand, for pure NICA racing, the hardtail would be the best bet: way lighter (about 4 lbs) at the same cost, and better components too.
But, I’m also thinking of the regular trail riding and training, where I think a FS is more fun, but maybe I’m wrong.

I’ve never owned a HT, and not ridden one in ages. And they have the gravel bike for road and 2-track riding, so it’s not like they need a hardtail for that. It would be for actual, purpose built, singletrack mtb trails, with fairly rough surfaces, even on the more rolling trails.

What are people‘s experience? If you have a HT, do you enjoy riding it for fun on normal singletrack mtb rides?

*NICA is American high school XC racing league. Courses are very non technical.

i just got a chisel fs last monday (the base model in dark red).

i love it i have to say BUT

i am a 49 year old slow rider who rides for fun and doesn’t race. so maybe the ht might be better suited for your 17 yr old to race on as it will be lighter (my bike is the small size and weighs around 30 lbs atm at a guess).

people have built the bike up a lot lighter though but it will cost to do so.

saying that though i actually don’t notice the weight when riding it (even up steep climbs/ it’s my lack of fitness not the weight of the bike holding us back lol) and it is very comfy to ride but you don’t feel any loss of power at the same time. i can guarantee that a fit person will fly on the bike for sure in a race. it definitely is an xc weapon (just the weight is holding it back as standard when bought).

i hope that was of some help?

You mentioned Santa Cruz but then didn’t follow up. Is that an option?

I rode an old Highball C with 120mm up front everywhere when I first got into MTB and it was an absolute weapon. Plenty good on technical singletrack for a hardtail, but it really excelled on tight sections and climbs where the snappy acceleration out of corners was a delight. I’ve just got a newer version (100mm) that I love, but so far am only really using it on gravel… it would be great on a non-technical xc track I think.

@Reeksy, I wondered if anyone would notice that, you are on the ball!

The reason I didn’t mention any SC models was price. I don’t think they have anything in that < $3000 price range.

I can look closer. But anyway, the main question wasn’t which model, it was Hardtail<> Full Suspension.

And also thanks to @Racefaceec90. I think you two both nailed it. Those were my thoughts, but I wanted some peoples actual experiences.

There are crazy cheap deals on Procalibers so I would be very tempted if you have access to some discount too.

The frame is solid but light and backed by the Trek warranty so I really don’t think you’d go wrong. Even the forks on the 9.5 are OK.

The sort of FS bike you can get in the same price bracket will be a clunker comparatively.

From what you describe I think the use-case almost perfectly fits a Procaliber.

I race in Scotland on an FS bike (Scott Spark). Having switched from HT to FS twice, the FS is faster. I can also use it as a trail bike. But, my FS is light and I’m (for a racer) pretty heavy (11kg to 73kg) and I ride rougher courses than your teenager will come across. A 13.7kg Chisel under a 45 or 50kg teenager would be like me racing on an e-bike with the motor switched off.

I also have a Trek X-Caliber, and before that raced on another Trek hardtail, and both have been great and I still won a few races on them. I just use them much less on my normal rides.

Only you can decide if the trade off of having a heavier bike that they can use more is worth it or not.

What I’d probably do is what I’ve done myself – buy second hand. Surely there’s a fairly good market in NICA bikes as kids grow? If you can get a second hand FS bike that’s actually light and fast and versatile (like a Spark or an Epic) for the same price at trade as a Chisel or Spearfish (which has superboost hubs, meaning you’ll find it difficult to swap a broken wheel at a few days’ notice – something that would really stress me out in the run up to a race, having tried to find an MTB post mount caliper for a Merida I’d borrowed for a race that weekend) then that’s what I’d do.

And to answer your question, I ride HT and FS interchangeably as it’s not that gnarly locally.

I enjoy the HT in all conditions, except perhaps the driest part of summer where the constant buzz of ruts gets a bit tiring. But it’s far more satisfying to bring it down technically challenging stuff at trail centres.

So unless you live at Whistler bikepark or Moab, the HT will be fine and fun for a 17 y.o.

I’ve ridden the carbon version of the Spearfish and it’s brilliant (and have a Ti El Mariachi and carbon Beargrease myself)
However, I wouldn’t describe it as an XC race bike, if he’s into marathons, or 12/24hr racing I’d definitely consider one but probably not for shorter stuff.
Not tried a Procalibre but I know a couple of people who have them and they rate them very highly, and friend’s experience of Trek’s warranty has been very good. Nothing useful to contribute about the Chisel.
I’ve had a brief go on a Highball and that was really good.

Hardtail definitely.

With bigger wheels, good, low pressure tubeless tyres, sorted geo and good forks a good quality hardtail is now far, far more comfortable and ‘supple’ than they used to be.

I have very nice and reasonably light trail bike but I still like to do a lot of miles on my Carbon hardtail (current gen Scott Scale RC), its lightning fast, very technically capable now that they have given them proper trial bike style geometry and I have done a few 90 minute XC races on it no bother.

FYI my gravel bike has not had a look in since this got bought, as its 90% as fast on tarmac and 1 million % more fun and faster off road.

If you work in a shop selling the bikes, isn’t there someone to give advice and the ability to test ride one to see which he prefers?

Does the trek still have the rubber bung at the top tube/seat post junction to help with dampening?

@snotrag – what do you ride?

thanks folks!

@FB-ATB : most of the people at our shop have nicer bikes themselves, not the lower end stuff I’m looking at here. Almost all FS too I think.

No, the new Procaliber doesn’t have the Isospeed anymore. Supposedly, it’s nearly as compliant, but a lot lighter. Also much better geometry (67 degree headangle).

not too sure of the value of a test ride. The question is not:  will it work well in the parking lot,  it’s, will it be fun on the trails, and we don’t let people take the bikes out on trails.

We also don’t have the Chisels in stock. They were just released, and bike season is almost over for us, switching to skis now, so won’t be bringing in new inventory until spring most likely.

@Roadwarrior, no, our trails are not particularly gnarly, and they have their Stumpy Evo for the harder ones, bike park and enduro racing anyway, so I’m not worried at all about being able to a HT on the local trails, just which would be more fun.

By the way, the kid in question is 74 kg, and 183 cm tall. So fully adult sized.

 just which would be more fun.

How long is a piece of string…?

Hardtail can be more fun because it’s more ‘demanding’ to get the most out of it, so more satisfying. It also makes you feel like a hero when you nail tough stuff that most folks attack on an FS too.

The response and feedback from a hardtail is great, so you feel like you’re going faster even if you’re not. That’s also fun.

But if I’m tired and a bit CBA, riding a FS takes less effort and doesn’t need me to be ‘on it’ the whole time. On those occasions, when I just want to get out on the bike, the FS can be more ‘fun’ in a slightly removed from the trail sort of way.

But if I could only have one for fun, I think it would be the HT (because of where I live).

I’d get the Procaliber HT.  they already have the SJ Evo for rough trail biking and you said a HT would better suit NICA races in your post.  They’re also really nice bikes.

@ravingdave Scott Scale RC – so the slightly lower end (100gramms in it maybe!?) of that crazy expensive version they launched a couple of years ago.

Bought as a frame and has been through a few iterations, started out with a SID and less tyre, now has more fork and dropper and big 2.4 tyres.

How tall is your son? I’d be getting the Procaliber as Carbon frames have been more comfortable for me (5′ 7″) than anything else, and more fun, faster.

Btw , the kid in question is 74 kg, and 183 cm tall. So fully adult sized.